Notes on Detective Fiction and Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe and Detective Fiction

• Poe significantly influenced horror fiction, making it more psychological.
• He was also a poet, known for "To Helen."

Food Poisoning Anecdote

• Personal story about food poisoning experience in Japan with rapid weight loss.
• Food poisoning experience involved a shared bath and a frantic rush to get home.

Direct Address in Literature

• The story uses direct address, similar to Deadpool, where the narrator speaks directly to the audience.
• Akin to breaking the forth wall and being aware of the audience's presence.

"The Tell-Tale Heart"

• A "telltale" reveals the truth of a situation. The heart symbolizes this truth.

Edgar Allan Poe: Biographical Details

• Poe was an American writer from Baltimore, lived around 1809-1849.
• He was married to his cousin and had no children.
• Poe was paranoid and afraid of being buried alive.
• Examples of his works: The Pit and the Pendulum & The Case of the Curious Case of Ben Voldemort.

Sanity and Egomaniacs

• Discussion on sanity and the tendency for people to proclaim their sanity when it might be in question - similar to Donald Trump's statements.
• Egomaniacs often have an inflated sense of self. The professor asks students if they know any egomaniacs.

Central Living Spaces

• Description of shared living spaces with individual bedrooms, like a boarding house/townhouse.

Vulture Eye Symbolism

• The old man's eye is described as a "vulture eye," connecting it to scavenging and death.
• If reading in translation, be wary of misinterpretation of the eye - vulture eye is more symbolic of death, whereas translations may reference eagle eye (seeing things well).

Translation Issues

• Translations can sometimes be inaccurate (e.g., rats vs. mice in 1984 Chinese translation).
• Always be aware of potential translation errors when analyzing literature.

Character Dynamics in "The Tell-Tale Heart"

• The relationship between the old man and the narrator is ambiguous.
• Interpretations range from master/servant to family or something else. There is no explicit gendering of the characters.

Mental Illness

• Mental illness: The narrator may have paranoid schizophrenia.
• People with schizophrenia can live normal lives with medication and support.

Cataract Surgery in India

• Mention of efforts to send doctors to India for cataract surgery in the 1980s. Cataracts are when skin grows over your eye, causing blindness that can be fixed with simple surgery.
• Seeing a beggar in Mumbai with a blue eye indicates they had cataract surgery.

Bear Attack Story

• Story about a man attacked by a bear who survived by playing dead, resulting in facial scars and blindness in one eye.

Narrator's Perspective and Sympathy

• The narrator seeks sympathy and believes he is sane, perhaps even more so than others.
• His conversational tone is notable, considering he has committed murder.
• The point of view of the unreliable narrator is first person.

Mistrust of the Narrator

• The narrator is unreliable due to his madness and inability to distinguish reality.

Mental Illness as a Theme in Literature

• Mental illness is a common theme in fiction to explore characters' motivations.

Anxiety and Mental Health

• Anxiety and panic attacks can be frightening and resemble heart attacks.
• Seeking early counseling for mental health issues is important.

Humphrey Bogart Reference

• Reference to Humphrey Bogart from The Big Sleep at the beginning of the semester.

Setting and Time Period

• The setting is a boarding house in the mid-19th century (1840s).

Themes

• Mental illness is a central theme.
• The narrator's hatred is focused solely on the old man's eye, not the man himself.
• For seven nights, the narrator is watching the old man sleep; he doesn't commit his act until the eighth night.

Fear and Superstition

• A late-night noise raises the question of whether someone is in the house.
• Anecdote about a possible ghost in the attic.

The Murder

• The narrator suddenly and violently kills the old man by throwing him and smothering him with the bed.
• After the murder, there is sounds and screams coming from the house.

Physical Strength and Mental State

• People are stronger than they realize; mental restrictions prevent self-harm.
• Murder is symbolic of mental illness creating a super-human strength.

Hiding the Body

• The narrator hides the body successfully.

Historical Context of Law Enforcement

• The procedure for reporting a crime was slow.

Hamartia

• Hamartia = a fatal flaw. A character defect that results in their downfall.
• Examples: gluttony, sloth, pride, and hubris.

Hubris

• Hubris = a pride that makes you think you are better and smarter than anyone else and they can't catch you.

Criminal Behavior

• Criminals often overestimate their intelligence, as shown in a story about a thief.